Saturday, November 16, 2013

“I've
been worn down by the economy” was the entry line of Robert Reich,
the renowned economist who served both under Presidents Clinton and
Obama. It was a clever remark because not only did he set a succinct
tone of humor from the onset, but he dissolved the first impression
that was on every person's mind, namely his height, or to put it
bluntly, the lack thereof. By openly and humorously acknowledging
it, he immediately shelved the issue and now the audience at the
Orpheum Theater could fully focus on what he had to say instead of
harboring on his physical height.

Apart
from being entertaining, there were many points and observations of
interest. His main concern was that our world though globalization
and technology has re-shifted the labor force and that the current
state of economic affairs - mainly in the US but also a growing
worldwide trend - mainly benefits those who have-a-lot and who get almost all
the gains, while everyone else is struggling hard to survive or get
by.

This causes an ever-widening gap of inequality leaving most of us at a
disadvantaged position. In the meantime, the government is too busy
working out the best deals for the 1%, whereas the 99% have been
unfairly designated to carry the burden. Reich explained that the
sectors and jobs that are the most valuable and beneficial for
society as a whole end up being underpaid. For instance, the American
government does not invest sufficiently in education; in
comparison to other jobs it pays very little to educators.

It
was during his talk that I realized the gravity regarding the
shutdown of the government at the time and the impending debt
deadline. Reich said that it would have had disastrous effects on the
economy, but it is a good thing that clearer heads have prevailed since. However, Reich also pointed out that American politics is often
too entrenched in ideology and what's worse name-calling and laying
blame. The best thing would be to put those conflicts aside and to
try to make veritable progress.

Reich
also pointed out that there are a number of practices that used to
work in the past but are not followed due to misplaced and
shortsighted greed. The United States economy was continuously
growing until the 80s when it suddenly swerved and started taking a
nosedive.

Yet
according to Reich the best economic practice for an owner was to
treat the workers well and to pay them good salaries. One of the most
pronounced examples in history was Henry Ford. His decision to give
his workers more than decent wages forced other companies to try to
keep up resulting in an overall much healthier and balanced economy.

That
in turn led to more profits for Ford since his workers not only
produced more, but, more importantly, they were able to afford Ford's
own cars. Although some have disputed that particular claim, this
wage increase helped solve the problem of turnovers because workers
who get paid well are willing to work harder and produce more, and
they do not want to lose their jobs. Hence that extra incentive or
effort could only benefit the economy.

This
was the best case scenario, a win-win situation. Relying on natural
resources and exports is tricky because they are dependent on
a host of factors outside of one's control. But if your consumers are
your own people, then everyone would benefit, and this would create
not only economic but also political stability. There would be no
need for radical groups on either the left or the right since most
people will be content with what they have.

To
get to that point of progress and stability, we need to also compete
with other countries. Both the US and Canada need to ensure that they
have a particular and very valued resource, namely, skilled trade. This is where
education would pay off dividends and a nation can indeed profit from
it.

By turning one's people into valuable and sought-after assets and resources,
one would also be able to weather the technological storm that is
making certain jobs, such as cashiers and bank-tellers more and more
obsolete. There are many things that machines cannot do as well as
humans and that is where most focus needs to go on. In other words,
this brings us back to the caring professions, such as nursing or
teaching.

One
of my questions was that if there are people like Reich in
influential positions, why are things not changing. My own answer is
that things might be more complicated than that and even good people
may not be able to make a definitive and lasting change.

However, as
Reich claimed if people start taking more political action, if they
are more aware of the issues facing them, then they could make the
government more accountable, and that is how real and lasting change
might occur after all. So as they say, crisis represents opportunity,
and this would be our time to bring about those necessary changes and
to diminish the gaps of inequality that our North American societies
are riddled with.

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